A Device for Divine

by stanku

Chapter V

In the dark, a single beeswax candle flickered, sending shadows dancing on the walls and onto the ceiling. The room was comparatively small and simple, with only one window and a pair of two-storeyed bunks where the occupants could sleep. Occupants there indeed were, for three of the four beds had a pony sleeping in them, their breathings raising their blankets a few inches in a slow and steady rhythm. The faint light of the candle made their forms barely visible.

The third bed’s occupant was the only one not sleeping. Instead, she was staring at the candle flame, never once turning her gaze from its slender figure. One could have seen the flame reflect from the pony’s eyes, had there been anypony witnessing the peculiar scene. Somepony fond of metaphors might have thought that the pony was, in fact, doing nothing more but staring at the abyss in herself, the void that kept on consuming her sanity resembling the flame that burned through the beeswax.

She didn’t even try to close her eyes, although the brightness was beginning to hurt them, for every time she shut her eyelids she could see the scene. That was why she had kept awake in the first place when the others had fallen asleep, on this night and on many other a night before. That was why she had stared at the meaningless flame she had lit for… I don’t even know how long that is. All I know that it’s not enough, never enough. No matter how long, it will be waiting for me. She will be waiting for me… until the day I die.

In one instant, the mare stood up and backed quickly away from the table and from the candle on it. She felt her heart thumping, could feel sweat trickling on her brow. There’s no way I’ll be staring at that candle a moment longer. No way in hay. The chill of the night embraced the mare as soon as she stepped outside the house. The street she entered on was quiet and empty, save for the moonlight that shone on the cloudless sky, the stars joining in with their twinkle. A perfect contrast for the paranoid flame. She sighed and soon after, shuddered as a cold breeze travelled along the street. She galloped to a random direction, to keep herself warm and to make her mind forget the candle flame.

Great stone buildings bordered her way wherever she went, buildings like which she still eyed with suspicion and awe. How could ponies build something like this? It all seems unreal. Fantastic. Artificial. But isn’t that the same thing as a fake? After a while, the mare found herself coming near to one of Canterlot’s several parks. To say that it was clean would have been an understatement. It’s more like the very idea of cleanliness. Just like everything else around here is ideal. The grass looked like it had been magically trimmed and the trees had most likely come from some great painting, such was the elegance in them. Finally, the words simply lost their meaning when she saw the fountain in the middle of the wonder that the locals called a simple park.

She sat down on a nearby bench, made of the whitest marble she had ever seen. A gentle noise of flowing water echoed in the small park, drawing her eyes to the source of it. It looks more like liquid silver than common water. I bet it’s drinkable, too. She rose and trotted to the fountain. The reflection on the quietly rippling surface looked back at her sadly. Beside it, a round, glowing orb lay. She looked up to the moon, to the round, perfect embodiment of the night itself. She gazed at it for a good long while. Mom always said that looking at you would be like looking at your own fate. I could either accept your revealing light or despair in that I can never guide it. “That’s why ponies invented fire,” she said out loud with a dreamy voice. “To guide the light.” But why did I run away from it, then? She sat down, drooping her head. Gradually it sank lower, until finally her chin broke the water surface. She flinched and pulled back, blinking.

I should get back… I’m so tired. And this is useless, everything is. I can’t change what’s happened, just as I can’t change my fate. She turned and headed out of the park. The way back to the house seemed to go faster than in the opposite direction, although she was in no haste. In the room, the candle was still burning, bright as ever. The mare simply extinguished the flame by blowing at it. As it died out, a gruff voice from one of the beds asked:

“Who’s there?”

The mare froze. “It’s me: Dewdrop. I just… Had to eat something.”

“There better be some honey left when I wake up…” the voice said, more or less sensibly, before falling asleep again.

Dewdrop sighed quietly and carefully climbed to her own bed that was above the stallion’s whom she had woken up. She fluffed her pillow, drew the blanket over her, and after half an hour, still found herself staring at the ceiling. Wet Mane…what are you thinking right now? Are you still in Damp Town? What are you going to do? She closed her eyes, turned a flank, and prayed for sleep.

***

For some, the routine of waking up came easier than to others, which sometimes caused some minor havoc between ponies who ended up sleeping in the same bed. It was a common topic Cantelotians of every social class to complain every now and then how their beloved one just loved to stretch the day by beginning it six o’clock. Indeed, if there ever was any truth to the saying that “opposites attract each other”, then it would have been embodied in the strange way how some couples had completely different sleep rhythms. Nonetheless, in the end this phenomenon was simply another way of talking about the beloved one in general, just another way of saying “I love you”.

Although sometimes, just sometimes, one might have prolonged the aforementioned sentence with “I love you, even if you sometimes make me want to throw you with something hard...”

“By Earth, Sky and Magic I swear: once we move to Crystal Kingdom you will either learn to respect the line between morning and night or we shall sleep in different bedchambers.” Cadance’s voice was muffled by the large pillow she had covered her head with, but Shining Armor could quite accurately guess the words that he could not make out. As usual, he had awoken about three hours before his bride considered proper, and even against his best efforts he had succeeded in waking her up.

“I humbly apologise once again, sweetheart,” Shining Armor said with his most sympathetic tone. Cadance mumbled some more from under the pillows. Armor left his captain’s uniform to the closet and moved to Cadance’s side of the bed. He caressed her slender form that was half covered by the silken blanket. His muzzle moved gently up her leg, just barely missing her hips and finally stopping at her neck that peeked from under the pink pillow. Her mumbling had gained a bit more approving tone by then.

“It would be a horrible loss, to lose the Princess of Love for another bed,” he said.

Cadance’s head rose from among the pillows, a drowsy smile decorating her lips. “Indeed, it would be such a shame.” She kissed him gently on the lips. As their lips parted, she continued with the faintest of voices: “Please close the door while you go outside to dress.”

He obeyed and paid particular care to close the bedchamber double doors as silently as he could manage. After that, he dressed in his Captain’s uniform and gave a few strokes of a comb to his mane which always tended to entangle itself during the night nowadays. As he stepped outside, a guard saluted him by raising his right front hoof. He returned it with a nod and headed towards the Inner Keep. Everything in the morning, from the golden red light of the young sun in the horizon to the patrolling unicorns, promised another regular day for him. I always thought it would look different, somehow. After all, how many times one leaves the post of the Captain of the Royal Guard? He glanced again at the beautiful sunrise. Maybe it’s a bit more golden than usual? Just a little bit?

The two guards standing by the main gate saluted like the first one did. He nodded, but as he noticed the fine red scars on the other stallion’s face, he stopped. “What’s the matter, Gauntlet? Got yourself into a kitty fight during the night?”

Glass Gauntlet kept on staring straight ahead of himself. “Just had some trouble with Princess Celestia’s new pets, Captain. I would advise to avoid them if possible.”

“New pets, eh?” Armor said with a smirk. “Has the Princess developed a fondness of cats without my knowledge?”

“Not cats, captain. Dogs. Puppies in fact, but they get nasty when there’s a bunch of ‘em.”

Armor raised an eyebrow. “Really? Sound surprising.” Gauntlet had nothing to say to that, so Armor continued on his way, smiling all the way to the corridor that lay close to the throne room. It was there that a loud commotion caught his attention. When he turned a corner, he saw a crowd of twenty, mostly earth ponies, milling about the closed double doors of the throne room. Most were silent, craning their necks to see better over each other at the source of noise that came right from front of the doors. Oh, buck. This again? He sighed and trotted towards the crowd. As he got close enough, he said with a loud, calm voice:

“Could I have your attention, please! Everypony, please, calm down!” His voice echoed in the high space, immediately nailing everypony's attention to him. After drawing his lungs full of air again, he continued: “I know that you are all eager to receive an audience from Princess Celestia, but you must understand that she has a lot of other tasks to attend to and so can’t receive anypony before ten o’clock. I advise that you return to your homes to wait until then.”

Instantly after saying that last sentence Armor realized a critical flaw in his speech, which was right away pointed out to him by a young mare just in front of him.

“We don’t have homes anymore, remember? That’s why we’re here in the first place! My family can’t wait any longer, we need to find a real home and not that old barracks that you shoved us all into! But I bet you don’t see the problem in that, do you, Captain?”

That’ the first time I’ve heard that name used as a slight. “You are quite right in pointing out that I, in the role of a soldier, might well be better off in the accommodations that we have found for you. To tell you the truth, I actually spent my rookie days in those barracks and I can agree that they are far from ideal.” To his relief, some of the ponies laughed at that, even nas the young mare glared at them.

Armor continued: “However, they are the best we can offer at the moment. The Princess is well aware of your distress, rest assured in that, but there is only so much even she can do for now, even though your problems are at the top of her list. Moreover, I will guarantee myself that she will receive your delegation first when the time comes.”

Shining armor smiled the whole time he spoke, sweeping the faces of the crowd with his eyes. They seemed to settle for his words, even the rash mare in the front, although the look she gave him as they started moving away was far from warm. Armor only smiled at her. It was only after they had all disappeared from the hall that he turned to the guards that had stayed in their positions before the door for the whole time.

“I thought I had made it quite clear that nopony is allowed to queue up to the throne room before half nine, am I correct?”
Of the three guards, the sergeant known as Gilded Helm stepped forward. “We were aware of your orders, Captain, but Princess Celestia informed us that these villagers should be treated especially considerately. We tried to ask them to leave, but they were mostly just… Unimpressed… By our requests.”

“I see,” Armor said and fell silent. After a while he said: “If they come again at a wrong time, inform the Captain at once. And whatever you do, do not let them in the throne room before the Audience Hour. They may wait on the hall next door if they come too early tomorrow as well. Any questions?”

“No,” Captain, Helm said. Armor nodded and carried on his way toward his personal office that lay in one of the eastern towers.

As he opened his office door, he noticed that Unbroken Shield, his First Lieutenant, was already there. “I should have known you’d make it here before me, even on the last day,” Armor said while closing the door behind him.

“Ready and willing to start the new day, Captain?” Shield asked, his easy smile and casual tone evident as ever. The two were roughly of age, but whereas Armor had always acted older than his actual age would have required, Shield followed a completely opposite logic. Somepony unaware of their actual ages might have regarded the other ten years younger just based on their behaviour and manners.

“As always, Lieutenant, as always,” Armor replied. He trotted towards his desk. “Anything special requiring my attention today?”

Shield flipped his horn to turn the page of his notepad that he carried everywhere. A popular rumour around the soldiers and rest of the castle’s staff was that while the notepad was meant for the official duties of the First Lieutenant, it also included some very attractive depictions of young mares that worked around the castle. Shining Armor had not checked himself, partly because he paid no heed to such issues and because he was married nowadays, anyway.

“It seems that your day is going to be wonderfully… Boring!” said Shield merrily. “There’s quite a lot of paperwork to be done regarding your move to the Crystal Kingdom, the most pressing matter being the election of the new Captain of the Guard…” During the last sentence, Shield began coughing quite loudly and theatrically, which managed to put a smile on Armor’s lips.

“Your willingness and potentiality for the aforementioned post is well known and appreciated, rest assured,” he said, settling himself at the same time behind his large oaken table by which Shield had been standing. “Is there anything else noteworthy save some wrestling with the papers?”

“Well,” Shield continued. “The annual inspection of the armory and of the other Royal Guard’s facilities is coming near, although I can take that arrow in your place, no problem there. Some promotions are to be considered, some reports from the borders should be read, a fencing drill in the afternoon ought to be monitored – you know the drill.” Shield finished his account by flipping the notepad once in the air with his horn before putting it back to his uniform’s pocket.

“Did you perhaps forget to mention that you got a kiss from the Princess last night?” Armor asked. “I can see no other reasonable explanation for your lack of etiquette. Your unusually prominent lack of it, I mean to say.”

“Hah! There you go: a kiss or two from a princess and no longer does a thought of a mundane romance enter your mind,” Shield said before moving away from the table and towards the door.

“And supposedly a permission is no longer required to leave the company of a higher officer, right?” Armor asked, only half serious, before the lieutenant could vanish through the door. This made Unbroken Shield turn around so sharply that the notebook almost flew from his pocket.

“I beg your permission to leave, Captain, so I can continue executing my duties towards the regime of Princess Celestia of Equestria.” The words came out like from a machine, without a hint of sarcasm or irony mixed in. The change in Shield’s expression was similarly radical.

Armor smiled. “That’s more like it. You’re dismissed.”

Shield nodded stiffly as a plank and left the room, closing the door after himself. Armor leaned back in his chair, stretching his limbs. His eyes were idly drawn to the pile of paper that lay on his desk. The last day, and the routine still feels dull as ever. And I’m suspecting that the announcement of the next Captain will not surprise anypony. What exactly is there to make today any more special than yesterday? Or the day before? He turned his head to look at the breakfast tray that lay on the other end of the large desk, heavy with bread, coffee, fruits and vegetables. But among the ordinariness, something extraordinary peeked. Armor floated the small folded piece of paper to him and opened it. Inside, there read:

“May the kitchens of the Crystal Kingdom beware, for them is henceforth the honour to serve his Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor. With best regards, the kitchens.”

He read the note twice, laughed shortly, and folded it into his pocket. And then he started working.

***

There were days when even Celestia would have thought it appropriate to turn the clocks forward, just in the case it might actually hasten the pass of time. Not because of boredom, no, not in Celestia’s case anyway, since she had forgotten how to be bored on the same day that she had come to know that she was immortal. It was just that sometimes the excitement was too much to bear, even for a mind as patient as god’s. So much work and effort had already been spent in anticipation of this one day, this very special day, when possibly a new god would be born. And that, if anything, was worth being a little bit impatient.

It wasn’t easy, after all, to devise the divine, to machinate an entity that was supposed to outlast time itself. It was a process requiring decades of planning, centuries of executing, a millenium to finish. It was perhaps the most difficult task in the universe. And Celestia was now watching a part of that plan sleeping gently on her feet, snoring a bit, even. A small cog in the device for the divine… Named Twilight Sparkle. Celestia could just barely refrain from waking her pupil up, but in the end she settled to just observing the sleeping unicorn mare. She needs to be well rested for what is about to come, so that no such petty thing like physical weariness can ruin the moment. Our meeting can wait for a few more hours.

Giving a final glimpse to the unicorn oblivious to the outside world, Celestia turned and quietly walked through the bedroom door, which she carefully closed behind her. The rays of the sun cascading through the glass windows told her that the morning had begun to fade into day, which meant that Celestia’s duties as the Princess of Equestria were about to begin. Like always, she would start her day with an audience from whomever had come to bid for one, although she had a pretty good notion of who that would be today. These villagers of Damp Town are an impatient bunch, although it’s not like I can blame them. Losing a home is one of the hardest things a pony can experience in one’s life, and smaller the home, the greater the pain its loss seems to cause.

Celestia walked through the corridors and the halls of her castle, answering salutes and greetings from guards and staff alike with smiles as warm as the first rays of the sun itself. Doors were opened for her and closed, too, just like they were supposed to. And then, without much of a ceremonial fuss, Celestia settled herself on the great throne in the middle of the throne room, where she sat for a while before speaking.

“Let the Audience Hour begin.”

With that, the great double doors opened and the first visitors of the day entered in. Like she had anticipated, first in line was a delegation from the village of Damp Town. The question of a new home came up quickly. Celestia suggested again, although in different words, that the villagers could settle in the villages surrounding Canterlot. The proposal was met with even less enthusiasm than before, mostly because those that had wanted to move away from their neighbours had already done so, the number being smaller than Celestia would have liked. Ponies of Equestria weren’t usually fond of moving far away from their birthing place, even less so to abandon their kin and friends, yet the habit seemed to have grown especially strong in these villagers.

The trouble in rehabilitating the villagers wasn’t as much in constructing a new town, since there were plenty of hooves available for that, but in finding a suitable location for such a project to take place. The villagers weren't picky, not at least in their own minds, and Celestia was eager to agree with them – they were more suspicious than picky. The villagers were cautious of everypony and every location that Celestia had offered for them and shown them on the map. A common cause of complaint was that the location presented was too “dry”, a concept which, in Celestia’s view, surpassed all borders of rationality. Nonetheless, these were her people, and so their problems were her problems, even if they themselves were the greatest reason for their problems in the first place.

This time, though, they managed to make some progress. A far away region in the North-East corner of Equestria seemed to please most of the villagers in the throne room. Celestia seized the opportunity and mobilized all her knowledge of that location that could have been described as positive in nature, keeping in mind, of course, what “positive” meant for the villagers of Damp Town. It suffices to say that “dry” wasn’t among the repertoire of adjectives Celestia used to depict the region. Her speech about “uncharted mires” and “unending shores” seemed to touch something deep inside them, even though Celestia couldn’t shake the feeling that she had just blindly prodded at their souls. It made no matter in the end, for the villagers left the throne room in a happier mood than they so far had ever done. All except one of them.

A young mare, just about the same age as Twilight, lingered in the room after the rest of the villagers had gone. Celestia had noted the grey skinned pony with the white mane when she had come in with the rest, yet hadn’t paid her any particular attention at the time. With a slight surprise she found herself minorly interested in this shy looking creature whose body language was telling her that she might sprint away at any moment. Still, the mare stood still in the middle of the throne room, even inching a bit towards Celestia.

“And what is your name, if I may ask?” Celestia asked with her softest voice which could soothe almost anypony regardless of the situation. However, the mare before her seemed only to tense more upon hearing her voice.

“Dewdrop, Your Grace.” She looked Celestia straight in the eyes while speaking. The interesting thing about her sunless eyes was that they didn’t match the nervousness of her body. Quite on the contrary, Dewdrop’s eyes seemed to be carved from a piece of lead, steady and self-secure.

“How may I be of service to you, Dewdrop?” The smile Celestia gave with her words was one of those that could make stars stop blinking.

“I am very grateful of all the help Your Grace has given us, I really am. I didn’t come to ask any more from you, I’d just wish to… Know something. I was just wondering if there were any news about the ponies that had disappeared.”

Celestia’s face gave away nothing but the usual warm smile, yet behind her mask of absolute kindness and compassion, she could feel a shadow of doubt creeping up her spine. There was something… strange… in this seemingly normal pony with eyes like leaden bars.

“Please, ‘Princess’ will do just fine. It grieves me to tell you, but so far I’ve heard nothing about the ponies whom I sent to investigate these disappearances.”

“Your Gra–, I mean, Princess, if I may ask, who did you send there to investigate? Were they soldiers?”

Celestia paused before she answered.

“No, not soldiers, dear Dewdrop. I sent two of the finest ponies that I have had the pleasure of knowing: the unicorn Twilight Sparkle and the pegasus Fluttershy. They will find your friends, I’m certain of that.”

“You only sent t–, I mean, wouldn’t Your Grace have thought it best to send more than just two ponies? I mean, the whole village already wasn’t enough to find them.”

Now that was a surprisingly bold thing to say, thought Celestia as she studied the little mare in front of her. Her eyes really are the darkest I’ve seen for a few centuries.

“Please, ‘Princess’ will certainly do just fine. I know that two may seem like a small number to you, considering, as you mentioned, how you, as a village, already failed to find your friends. Rest assured, though, that had I deemed it necessary to send more ponies there to search the disappeared ones, I would have done so. Twilight and Fluttershy are both extraordinary ponies, for the former is my private student and the other has a unique way to communicate with animals. What the group I sent to Damp Town lacks in numbers, it exceeds in capabilities.”

Dewdrop seemed to settle for that answer, for she said nothing for a while. Celestia was just about to say something herself when Dewdrop spoke, and when she did, Celestia’s smile quivered for a moment so short that it was almost impossible to notice it.

“Princess, I beg your permission to return to Damp Town and to the Forest of the Shallows, to help the ponies Twilight and Fluttershy reveal the cause behind these disappearances.”

Well, that certainly proved that I can still be surprised by something. “That is very valiant and noble of you, Dewdrop, but the risk is just too great, like I already told your mayor. So long as we do not know the reason behind these disappearances, the safest action is to wait until further knowledge can be gathered.”

“But you sent these two ponies there, why not me? I’m not useless, nor helpless, and I know the Shallows like I know my own hooves!”

The controlled behaviour of Dewdrop, which so far had remained intact, suddenly seemed to crumble. She had raised her voice and taken a few steps towards Celestia, probably without noticing it herself. Celestia waited after the echoes had died in the room before she spoke again, deliberately lowering her own voice a bit.

“I know how you must feel, Dewdrop, I really do. Do you personally know all the ponies that have disappeared?”

Suddenly, the white-grey mare seemed quite nervous, although Celestia couldn’t say for sure whether the change had happened because Dewdrop had realized having just raised her voice in the presence of a god, or because of the last question directed to her.

“I… uhm, no, I didn’t know any of them very well… Except for the last one to disappear, of course. Wet Mane, he’s called. He… He is my brother…”

Dewdrop was looking at the floor now, and Celestia decided that it was time to end this little conversation.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Dewdrop, but at the moment, the only ponies that I can allow to enter into the Forest of the Shallows or Damp Town are Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy, and the members of my Royal Guard, if the need for their intervention should arise. I recommend that you return to your family and friends now.”

Dewdrop simply nodded weakly, but before she turned and left, Celestia could notice this tiny twinkle in those dark and heavy eyes of her’s. While she watched Dewdrop leave the throne room, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had been hidden from her by that strange young mare.

Nonetheless, other audiences were waiting for her attention, other worries required her council, which she delivered with pleasure. It took her the rest of the morning and most of the midday before she had dealt with all the day’s visitors, after which she withdrew to the solace of her private chambers to write some letters.

It was well into the afternoon when one of the guards informed her that Twilight Sparkle had finally woken up, along with Fluttershy. She could barely make herself finish the letter she had been writing for the ambassador in Saddle-Arabia before she left to meet the two ponies.

But before she went to face them, she headed for her sister’s bedroom. When she came to the door of her boudoir, the guards standing by it seemed to jump a bit, as if they had been surprised in the act of talking about something they weren’t supposed to. Celestia ignored the fact and requested one of the guards to wake up her sister. They both seemed a bit uncomfortable with the idea of entering Luna’s bedroom without her permission, but Celestia assured them that the reason was urgent enough to bend the protocol a bit. And with that, one of the guards carefully opened the door slightly enough so that he could sneak into the dim room.

He returned after a few minutes, with a faint red color on his cheeks.

“Princess Luna has awoken, my Princess. Also, she wishes me to inform you that, well, uhm…”

“That she is somewhat… Surprised by this visit?” finished Celestia. The guard nodded, his gaze avoiding Celestia’s as best as he could.

After a while, Luna emerged from her boudoir, her mane uncombed, as Celestia could tell.

“I expect there is a reasonable explanation for my unscheduled awakening?” asked Luna from her elder sister. The annoyance in her tone was inadvertently softened by the yawn that she had to stifle in the middle of her sentence.

“Come with me, sister, and I will gladly explain.” With that, Celestia turned and walked away, with Luna following behind. After the two alicorns had safely moved out of earshot, the guard who had stayed outside the bedchamber looked at his friend and asked:

“So, what did the dark one really say when you woke her up?”

The guard looked at the floor for a while before he spoke.

“She said that, if Celestia would ever again send a common guard into her bedroom while she was sleeping there, she would make sure that the guard in question would truly learn the importance of privacy.”

“And what does that mean?”

The other guard raised his gaze from the floor.

“You really want to know that? Because I sure don’t.”

***

“Sometimes I really do wonder if we share the same blood after all,” said Luna, commenting on the plan that her sister had just presented to her. They had stopped in a wide and long corridor where they could speak in private, without the fear of anypony eavesdropping around a corner.

“Likewise, I really do hope that is just the weariness speaking,” answered Celestia with a smile on her lips. Luna just rolled her eyes as an answer.

“It may be difficult for you to understand,” Celestia continued. “But it is essential for my future plans that you really do talk with the pony Fluttershy about her gift.”

“And thus lie to her that her ‘gift’, like you call it, is nothing but a positive and a fortunate occurrence that she should be overjoyed about?”

“It grieves me to hear you implying that I would make you lie for me, sister. It really does.”

“Oh, stop already with the drama, sister,” said Luna as she turned away from Celestia and walked to the window that opened to the courtyard below. Some soldiers were practicing combat there.

“I wish I could do that, I really do, but alas, the play must live along with its script,” Celestia said behind Luna’s back. The dark alicorn just watched the stallions practicing below, following each refined movement of those strong and wiry male bodies. The speed and accuracy with which they moved was almost hypnotic.

“But how do I know if I’m an actor or the playwright?” she asked after a while. She could sense Celestia moving behind her, stepping beside her in the audience of the fight below them.

“You are neither and both. We all are. Although sometimes… We receive the rare opportunity to choose between the lines we speak and the stage we set out to act on.”

In the courtyard, one of the stallions managed to disarm his opponent, sending the blade that had floated in the air flying away. However, the other unicorn was fast to react and kicked his opponent who had dared to come too close, hitting him on the flank. The fight turned into a wrestling match on the ground, although it ended shortly after one of the unicorns managed to get his weapon back to his horn’s control and against his opponent’s throat. Luna sighed quietly, for she had tacitly championed the other stallion, whom she had deemed more handsome.

“I still do not quite understand the real meaning behind your metaphors, even if I do try and participate in them sometimes,” she said. Her tone sounded almost sad.

“There are no metaphors. All there is, is meaning itself, which is connected to everything, although the connections do not always make sense to a pony who is entangled in their web.” Celestia, on the other hoof, sounded just the same as she most always did: compassionate, calm, and cheerful just enough to hide the edge of command in her voice.

“I still do not see how you can regard the phenomenon of mist wandering as a gift… To me, it appears as nothing more but a curse,” said Luna.

“While I admit that there are some side effects that need refining, I am absolutely of the opinion that the opportunities presented by this gift exceed the curse-like attributes that come with it.”

“Care to enlighten me?”

“Of course I do,” said Celestia. “But now is not really the time to discuss such things, for Twilight and Fluttershy have already woken up.”

“But surely we can give them some more time to talk with each other? They have gone through a lot, after all. Why should we make such haste?”

Because I am not a firm believer in Fluttershy’s capability to lie. “I know very well what horrors they have gone through,” said Celestia. “That is exactly why I would like to talk with Twilight as soon as possible and that is why she wants nothing more but to talk with me. But I would loathe to leave Fluttershy alone in a situation like this, as you surely understand. Please, do this thing for me, and I promise you that we will talk more about it afterwards.”

Luna was still watching the fencing below her, although it seemed that the day’s training was about to end. She could see Shining Armor giving orders, sharing advice and encouraging his soldiers as they began leaving for the barracks. She wondered idly if Cadance was having much fun with her new husband – it sure would have been a shame not to.

“Fine,” she finally said, “I will abide by your rules once again. But one of these days I will not settle for just some role in your play, rest assured in that.”

“Oh, believe me, you already play more than just a single role in my oeuvre.”

There really was nothing Luna could come up with as an answer to that, so she simply walked quietly along with her sister as they made for the chambers of Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. When they arrived to the door that held them within, Celestia stopped and looked at her sister.

“I shall first enter in alone and see that they have finished their conversation. After I have taken Twilight with me, I want you to go to Fluttershy and talk with her about the subject we just discussed. Is there anything you would like to know or say before we begin?”

“Let us just get this over with,” answered Luna quietly.

And with that, the double doors to the chamber opened.

After Celestia’s part had been played out, Luna studied the yellow-pink pony that sat by the breakfast table with her ears and head drooping. She seemed sad, depressed even, which didn’t exactly raise Luna’s mood, either. Unlike her sister, she had never really mastered the skill of encouraging other ponies. There hadn’t been such need in the moon. And yet, she was now supposed to comfort this little pony in her anxiety, to tell her that it would all turn out better tomorrow, that the worries and doubts she carried inside were like mist and nothing more. Just thinking about the task ahead raised the taste of bile to Luna’s tongue. Nonetheless, she approached Fluttershy.

Luna’s steps were quiet enough so that she didn’t notice her presence before she spoke.

“Good afternoon, Fluttershy.”

Upon realizing that she wasn’t alone, Fluttershy fell off her chair. She gathered herself quickly though, and returned the greeting, in a way.

“H-h-hi, L-Luna. S-so nice to see you, Princess.”

Luna sighed. “Fluttershy, listen: there’s no need to be that formal now. Just try to relax a bit, okay? There’s something we need to talk about.”

“O-okay…”

Luna studied the faintly shaking pony who was doing her best to hide her face into her rich, pink mane. “Do you remember how I promised how we would one day talk more about the dreams you’ve been having lately?” As the pegasus nodded shortly, Luna continued: “That time has now come.”

Fluttershy shuffled her legs under the table. “Can I ask questions, then?”

“Of course.”

The bright teal eyes peeked from the confines of the mane. “Why me?”

Luna gave her a long look. “We don’t know, not for certain. Clearly the gift connects to your affinity for animals, but how and why, we can’t yet say. I’m sorry.” Very gently, she put a hoof on her shoulder. “There are a lot of things in the world that we don’t know the reason for. That doesn’t mean that we couldn’t live with them.”

Fluttershy stayed still under her touch. “So it’s not… It’s not going to go away, is it?”

“I’m afraid not. The gift is a part of you, and you are a part of it.”

The teal eyes turned on the floor. “Will I be seeing… more death?”

“The probability for that is very low. Whatever gave birth to the beast of the Shallows was a freak accident, an anomaly. It shouldn’t have been possible in the first place. It will most likely not happen again in your lifetime.”

Fluttershy stayed quiet for a while. “She wasn’t a beast… She was a mother. A mother trying to feed and protect her young.” A shudder travelled through her. “And Twilight killed her for that.”

“She didn’t know,” said Luna soothingly. “You shouldn’t blame her for that.”

Fluttershy turned her gaze on Luna again. This time, there was sharpness in the icy depths. “Why she wasn’t told the truth? Why?”

“Celestia had plans for Twilight,” explained Luna calmly. “Plans that will come to light in time. Why exactly she acted as she did, even I cannot say for sure. Can you tell how I can still live with her, regardless of that?”

Fluttershy didn’t move a muscle.

“Because I trust her. And because she trusts me. That is the only thing that matters.” She removed her hoof from Fluttershy’s shoulder, brushing her curls on the way. “Is there something more you’d like to know about your gift?”

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Why exactly is it a gift?”

Luna blinked. “In the same vein knowledge itself is. It can be a burden to bear, but it’s always a necessary burden. Your sight enables you to see the evil in nature, Fluttershy. Now why do you think that is?” She tilted her head slightly.

“So that I could heal it,” Fluttershy said quietly. “You said something similar before.”

“And it’s still true. But as I said, in our age there is not much evil to speak of anymore, not in the nature nor in the pony race. It would seem that your gift bloomed a bit late, which makes me believe all the more that it is nothing but a coincidence.”

“But why that dog turned into a wolf?” asked Fluttershy, her brows furrowed. “Why? What could have made it kill other animals?”

Luna opened her mouth. At the same time, the double doors of the chamber opened. Along with the dying echo created by their bang, in entered Princess Celestia, carrying the unconscious Twilight on her back.

Fluttershy screamed.

Luna raised an eyebrow.

And Celestia cast a spell that enveloped Fluttershy in a grey mist, robbing her of her consciousness. She collapsed on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Now that was something Luna hadn’t seen coming.

Celestia walked steadily closer to them, acting as if nothing had happened. But when she spoke, Luna could sense that something had gone very much awry. “I want you to wipe their memories and rebuild them new ones, starting from their first night in Damp Town. Make sure that they never met the wolfmother or her litter. Make sure that they never found out what happened to the disappeared villagers.”

“Uhm, what?” For once, Luna couldn’t devise anything clever to say, not even about the fact that Celestia wasn’t smiling.

“There have been some… Complications. It appears that Twilight wasn’t as ready for my message as I thought she would be. It makes no matter, though, for I know that you will make it alright again.”

“That I will make it… What? What are you saying? You think tampering with ponies’ memories is just something I can do within a minute’s notice?”

Celestia said nothing, but set Twilight down from her back and next to Fluttershy as carefully as she could manage. Only after that did she speak.

“Luna, dear sister… For this one time, I do not feel like the god I am supposed to be. For the love you bear towards me… Please, spare me from your hypocrisies and just do as I say.”

Rather than throwing the arrogance of her sister straight back to her face, Luna smiled, since deep inside herself, she knew that this time, she had won. She wasn’t quite sure how, or what, but she had won. That was plain to see from the joyless look Celestia gave her, with her favourite pupil laying unconscious at her feet.

“Why, I’d be delighted to help you with this little… Problem. Just leave them there and I will clean this mess up for you. However, some extra information about what happened with Twilight might help with the task...”

Celestia didn’t look at Luna anymore, but instead kept her eyes firmly on Twilight, whose steady breathing, along with Fluttershy’s, made the only sounds in the room. It seemed like she was lost deep inside her own mind, in some depths even Luna had hard time figuring out. Especially in times like this.

“I think… That she experienced a similar reaction as you did, a millenium ago,” Celestia said, still studying the almost motionless body of Twilight with keen interest.

Luna opened her mouth to speak, yet said nothing.

Celestia’s expression gave away nothing, but before she left, she brushed the mane from Twilight’s face with her muzzle.

“And what would you like me to do about Fluttershy's gift?” Luna asked before her sister could vanish through the double doors.

“Just forget it for now. We can take care of that later, when a suitable opportunity presents itself.”

And with that, Celestia was gone.

Comments

[StarChaser01]

4175325 As one of my friends would say...
I'll take this over for you Chaser.
"TITTIES!!! :D"

[terrycloth]

Eh? What was Celestia's message?

[RoboRed]

Memory manipulation rustles Robo's jimmies...

[lordofmyth]

......i really dislike stories like this that portray celestia as wicked or manipulative. cause when i read them i look back and remember when she teased the cake couple about continuously refilling her cup, for treating her like royalty.

celestia does not view herself a god. nor would she have some twisted project at work. that is not who she is.

[stanku]

4390827
I'm sure we'll find that out in the next chapter.

[terrycloth]

4393434 Okay. Somehow it's hard to distinguish 'this is a mystery for now' from 'you should understand what this is talking about because it's referring to something that happened earlier'.